Counting by Twos and by Colors
by Annabelle Rae
Summary: In which Sumire finds that their tale is told by colors and odd numbers, from red and five onwards. #MayMadness2014


**A/N:** So I wrote this on my wordpress account, but I thought it would make a good story here as well. It's been so long since I last posted an update-about a month, I guess-and here goes my very first contribution for May Madness. :)

* * *

**r**emember when we were five  
we would play dress up  
and you would always be a hero-  
superman, batman, or anyone + man at the end-  
and i would always be a royalty-  
a princess, most of the time,  
one who needed saving?  
and at five our outfits never matched  
but that was okay by me  
because i was young and naive and innocent.  
but looking back, now that we are sixteen,  
i realize that although you were dressed as a hero  
for me you were my knight:  
with a sword and a cape of red-  
not like your red blanket with basketballs drawn,  
the one you used when you played superman;  
but one made of fine linen,  
fit for you as a knight.  
that kind of red, yes,  
and maybe a red rose, too,  
hidden somewhere.

**o**nce when we were seven,  
we went outside the house.  
you said we'd play and you dragged me along,  
but the sky was turning orange,  
and the sun was starting to set,  
so i told you, "no, we can't."  
you shushed me and held my hand.  
we walked to the nearest orange tree  
and you climbed a little  
and i was scared you'd fall,  
but you didn't.  
you tossed me one,  
gave me a smile as the sun set,  
and as i turned the orange round and round on my hand  
i looked up to you again  
and smiled, too,  
before the sky of orange  
(and blue and yellow and purple)  
got enveloped by darkness.

**y**ou were my best friend when we were nine,  
and as neighbors we would always walk,  
hand in hand, towards home.  
it didn't mean anything,  
us holding hands-  
not for us, no.  
but one day it rained,  
and i forgot to bring my umbrella with me.  
so what you did, you offered  
to share your yellow umbrella  
as we walked towards home.  
that walk, different from the others,  
was silent but peaceful,  
and i liked it that way.  
a few blocks away, the sun started to come out,  
shining brightly amongst everyone-  
shining brightly amongst us,  
under your yellow umbrella.  
and that was, you know,  
when i realized there might be something more  
in you, in us.  
and it was because  
of yellow.

**g**ardens and yards  
were our best friends when we were five,  
seven,  
nine.  
but at eleven we were going through puberty  
and playing outside didn't appeal as much  
and walking home together  
almost wasn't an option anymore.  
so really, we would talk,  
but it was nowhere like before,  
and besides there was no one else  
you'd rather talk about  
than her.  
and i was green with jealousy,  
sitting alone under the mango tree,  
in the yard we used to play in as kids.  
i looked up and saw  
tons of green, unripe mangoes,  
and at eleven i was smart enough  
to think about metaphors;  
so what i thought,  
maybe that was us: green, unripe,  
about to grow into something more.  
and i believed in that.

**b**y thirteen, we'd talked more again.  
you had your heart broken  
by the girl you'd liked since eleven.  
and i was the one  
who'd been there for you for so long  
so you talked to me,  
ranted,  
complained,  
and i remained listening,  
taking it all in.  
i asked you if you remembered  
the blue swingset in our backyard  
and you said, "yes,"  
i said, "come on,"  
but you weren't so sure if we'd fit.  
and i told you it was okay,  
just a little something  
to take your mind off things.  
you smiled a little  
(and hell was i thankful for that)  
and under the clear, blue sky  
walking towards that blue swing set,  
we'd gone back  
to how we were before.

**i** realized i loved you  
back when we were fifteen,  
and i was hoping fervently  
you'd take me as your date to prom.  
that, and the fact that  
i found myself thinking about you  
every waking moment-  
from when i wake up  
'til before i sleep.  
it was scary; i didn't want to lose you.  
so one friday night,  
at 2 am,  
i climbed up the house's roof,  
and there i saw everything:  
the place we'd always stay in  
as we played dress up,  
you with your red cape and me with my dress;  
the orange tree in your yard,  
which you climbed at sunset to make me smile;  
the yellow umbrella at your rack outside,  
the one under which i admitted to myself  
you were someone i really liked;  
the mango tree in our yard,  
with green mangoes from which i realized that we  
we going to grow into something special;  
and the blue swing set,  
which was a symbol of our mended friendship.  
then i realized:  
these were testaments to us  
and how far we'd gotten;  
_they were us._  
as i lay on the rooftop,  
under the indigo-black sky,  
four hours before the sun arose,  
i knew we were on the verge  
of something more.

**v**erily, i wonder  
how we'll be at seventeen.  
will we still be this:  
two best friends in love,  
actually together?  
or will we become strangers,  
the twelve years of friendship down the drain?  
i hope it's the first.  
i hope we remain together  
'til nineteen and twenty-one and twenty-three  
until maybe ninety-seven;  
then you'd be my knight,  
and i'll be your princess-  
both royalties,  
laden in violet.


End file.
